In mankind's eternal search for the fountain of youth, more and more attention has been directed to developing compositions that eliminate, shrink, or mask wrinkles and other unsightly lines in the skin. Many products along these lines are known in the art.
For example, cosmetics have long included humectants, which absorb or retain moisture. These cosmetics may have the effect of temporarily smoothing out wrinkles because the skin swells where the humectant is applied. Other products have been developed to tighten skin upon application of the product. Among these products are tensors. The tensors are typically proteinaceous in character and form a film on the skin surface. The protein retracts upon drying to tighten the skin and temporarily remove wrinkles.
Many of the early products were serum-based. These products provided localizing and temporary tightening of the skin. However, the movement in the industry is away from animal-based products to vegetable and fruit-based products.
Due to this movement, the use of alpha-hydroxy acids for the purposes of wrinkle removal has gained considerable popularity. The use of alpha-hydroxy acids is not new. For example, German Patent Nos. 1,263,987 to Schlenger and 2,703,189 to Higer et al. disclose the addition of various ingredients, including alpha-hydroxy containing materials, to cosmetic formulations. These compounds have also gained favor in the United States. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,091,171, 5,385,938 and 5,422,370 to Yu et al. disclose the same use of alpha-hydroxy acids.
Because these products are applied to the skin, the products should be smooth and luxurious to the touch. The products should exhibit smooth and non-gummy rubout characteristics. Furthermore, the products should not be grainy or aesthetically unappealing.
The products in the prior art typically suffer from the fact that the ingredients most effective for skin moisturization or wrinkle reduction generally are solids that have poor stability and are immiscible in the liquid vehicles most desired for application of the ingredients to the skin. In addition, these ingredients typically give a grainy texture to the products.
There is a need for delivery vehicle that avoids these problems and provides a smooth and creamy vehicle for delivery of skin tighteners to the skin.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a delivery system for skin tightener agents that is smooth and non-grainy to the touch and exhibits smooth and non-gummy rubout characteristics
It is another object of the present invention to provide a delivery system that is aesthetically pleasing.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a delivery system for vegetable based tightening agents that is shelf stable.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following specification.